aspqrz
Posts: 597
Joined: 7/20/2004 Status: offline
|
When Kemal Ataturk died, in 1934 IIRC, he warned his successors, and the army (much the same in those days) to not ally with Germany in the even of another war ... and that's way before Hitler was really seen as a serious threat ... Now, the Turks thought rather well of Mustafa Kemal (hence the "Ataturk" = Father of the Turks) then ... and, indeed, still do ... so they wisely followed his advice. I can't see them going against it unless the Germans have already more or less won. On top of that, HMG negotiated forward contracts with Turkey for all the raw materials she could produce that Germany needed so bad ... Tungsten, for example ... buying it up at attractive prices, too. Which was a really smart move ... the Turks got, evidently, a damn good deal, the Brits stopped the Germans from getting things they needed, and the Turks were exceedingly happy. So, unless you can knock Britain and the Commonwealth from the game ... before the US can step in and take over Britain's obligations ... and, as we have discussed before, this is not really possible ... that means that Turkey will remain neutral in favour of the Allies. There is, I suspect, a slightly higher chance of the Turks joining the Allies, especially after D-Day, but even then the Germans could have done some nasty damage to European Turkey if they were bloody minded enough ... and, of course, the chances are they would be! I can't, offhand, think of anything Turkey really wanted badly enough that either Hitler or the Allies could give them as a bribe to make the difference, either. And, apart from the Tungsten, which, at the level of ToF probably makes no game significant difference, there's really nothing that either alliance could realistically get from Turkey that would make it economically or militarily worthwhile to try and get them onside actively. Phil
_____________________________
Author, Space Opera (FGU); RBB #1 (FASA); Road to Armageddon; Farm, Forge and Steam; Orbis Mundi; Displaced (PGD) ---------------------------------------------- Email: aspqrz@tpg.com.au
|